October 23, 2009 - 1:40am
Statistics on the baguette consumption in France question
Does anyone know how to get recent statistics about the consumption of baguettes in France over the last 10 years
or so. I have tried contacting the The Association of Bakers in France in both English and French as well as other sources and never get an answer. There has been deep reduction in comsumption of the baguette and it has had a very negative effect on the bakers who prepare it from scratch ("a La Masion") a classification defined by the French government. I have been wanting to write an article "Save The Baguetts" but can only find old figures.
Thanks,
Patricia Turo
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I have travelled a little bit, and have found pastries in other countries disappointing. Living in Houston, TX, which is more of a culinary mecca than most would think; I have the good fortune of a few bakeries that make excellent pastries. I'm usually disappointed when looking for a sweet pastry in another country. I'm especially disappointed in the Airports abroad and the food offered in the Airports. I just assumed that because they were Europeon airports the food and pastries would be excellent......I have found much better food in my local Houston airport.
I read recently that surprisingly Greece has the highest consumption of bread per capita......interesting. I mentioned this to a close friend of my wife who lives in Greece and she confirmed this....but she, a Ukrainian native, commented that the bread was not great quality.
I'm aware this is a little "off topic", but I'm surprised that Europe is optiing for the quick frozen doughs, and America is slowly moving toward more artisanal methods.
Personally, the more I bake, the more I move toward higher percentages of whole grains.....I'm also moving away from any "extras" in the dough. If the bread is good, it needs less and less.....whole grains/unbleached flour, sea salt, good water, yeast/or starter......sustained fermentation.....this is something that will bring back consumption of bread.
The bread in Germany and Switzerland are really fantastic. But I find bread in Italy very dry and almost never eat it. Pastries really differ from country to country and Austria, Switzerland, France and Germany really top my list. I come from Italian heritage and I love Italian desserts, they are less into pastries as other types of desserts. Biscotti, tarts, pudding type desserts are very good but Italian desserts are not sweet.
The consumption of bread in Europe was a staple of thier diet in the past. That has changed today and it has become less important. Also in the past many women didn't work, this has also changed dramatically today. People don't seem to have as much time to bake and quality becomes less important. In fact many people I meet in Italy complain that yourg Italians don't know how to cook. With life styles changing and the need for people to move to other countries and working habits impacting life here, so does everything else.
I've visited Greece and don't recall the bread. I would have thought that Germany would have topped the list. We had a company there for several years and I thought the bread was fantastic. The variety was also amazing and their pastries, cookies and cakes are really wonderful.
Thanks for your comments it is great to hear about other peoples experiences.
Regards,
Patricia
Not sure about the numbers, but I can tell you that from 2004 until the present it went down somewhat.
that's when me and my husband moved back to the US (sorry, could not resist)...
:-)